Farmhouse Table Transformation

I finished this farmhouse end table a little while back and I have dying to share it with ya’ll. I think it turned out great, and it was so easy to do. I finished this piece in just a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. Keep reading, I will share my tips for creating your own unique piece.

First Things First

The most important part is to start with a good piece of furniture, it doesn’t have to be in perfect condition. You just need to make sure it is sturdy and has a good shape. Don’t stress over dents, dings, or scratches they will just add more character to the finished piece. You don’t have to spend much either, I picked up this little table for $20.

Sometimes the hardest part for me is deciding what color I should paint the piece. I exclusively use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, and she currently has 37 Colors to choose from. Now don’t get me wrong, I love that she has a wide variety of colors, but sometimes it is just so difficult to decide. The minute I saw this table though I just knew it needed to be Duck Egg Blue.

Just another boring old table

Flip the Table Over

Always, always start by painting your piece upside down. It doesn’t matter what the piece is that you are painting, just always start with it upside down. Trust me here, I have spent hours working on a piece, only to realize later that I forgot to paint underneath. There is just so many nooks and crannies that are so much easier to reach from the underneath too. Plus you really wouldn’t want to put your newly painted table top on the ground and mess it up. I usually always do two coats of paint and let it dry completely before turning it over.

Always start upside down

Paint the Top

The good news is that when you turn it over its smooth sailing from there. You have already done all the hard work on the other side. So now all that’s left is to put a couple of coats on the top.

This is the easy part

Distress It

Once the paint is dry, I go over the entire surface with a fine grit, something like 220, sandpaper. I just like how this makes the surface so nice and smooth. Apply more pressure to take away more paint in some areas. I concentrate on the edges and places that you would expect to see normal wear. Be careful not to get too carried away with this part, there is an art to distressing tastefully.

Embellish It

Now you could just stop here and proceed with applying wax, but I didn’t. I felt like this table just needed a bit of something to make it truly fabulous. I had picked up this little bird stencil the other day and I was just dying to use it, and it fit perfectly.

Add your own unique design

Wax On, Wax Off

Once my stenciled design was dry, I applied a coat of clear wax to the entire table. I felt like this table just really needed some dark wax to finish it up. I applied a coat of dark wax, concentrating on any textured or recessed areas. The first time I used dark wax on duck egg blue was on my dining room table, and I freaked out because it turned it an olive green. Don’t worry though, as long as you put clear wax down first you can go back over your dark wax with a coat of clear. This creates a really great look because the dark wax will stay in all the nooks and crannies giving the piece lots of depth and that great time-worn look.

I also added a little cast iron handle to the front to finish it up. I couldn’t be happier with how this table turned out. What do you think of this little duck egg blue treasure?